Tying my daughters’ hands and feet together may not make them trailblazers that upend the world as they know it, but it’s just one of the ways I can help them learn to tackle real-life problem solving and critical thinking—skills that any child needs to survive, or adult for that matter, no matter what life may...

There’s something about being the one to find the anchor points, tie the knots, rig your child’s climbing harness and set up the rappelling equipment. It puts you in a place of instant authority, control, and most of all trust.

There are many similar mantras that get slung by the Boy Scouts: "Be Prepared" or the tactical type, "Always Be Ready." Both of these terms imply a state of readiness in preparation for an emergency, attack, or survival situation, but neither address the disaster that most of us are already right in the middle of. The disaster of an unadventurous life. To understand my point, as well as this philosophy, you'll first need to ask yourself the question "Who do you want to be ready to be?"

A bulk of our time on this planet has been spent running down prey in dangerous situations to survive, and over multiple generations, we’ve evolved to those standards. Is it any wonder that when we don’t get out and “Get after it.” we feel emotionally broke, depressed, and down right pissed off?

With the advent of technology, our world evolved much quicker than our brains and bodies could. Today, many of us struggle to live with a hunter / warrior heart in a...

We all become whatever we become for what ever reason we become it. For me, I wanted to be a Medic because I would always be able to care for my family in an emergency. From there I went on to become a Navy SEAL so that I could defend, protect and care for my family. I always related everything back to what it would mean to my family.

Then the training begins. Then you get deployed and your purpose grows proportionately with your power. Sacrifice and the greater good push you to get better and better. Your original intent – Be a badass for my family is fulfilled by way of byproduct created by your profession. It all works until you leave. Then the countless hours of training don’t seem to have the importance anymore.

I'm not one of those guys who cares about my heart-rate, speed or distance when I run, but I do buy gear that tells me all of that stuff. Why do I do this? Because it keeps things interesting, fresh and exciting. Do I need a new paddle board? No. So why did I pick a new one up yesterday? Because I wanted to paddle board more. Life is...

In my endeavor to reconcile the pragmatic application of human performance and the primal requirement for the outdoors I’ve discovered the essential as well as the unconventional: the packable and transportable workplace.

In today’s economy we compete with our ability to discover and create. To accomplish this we rely on a very scarce, fragile, and internal resource commonly referred to as attention. There are two types of attention to consider here. The first type is called...

You see, we often don't do what we know we're supposed to do, because we lack the strength and desire to do so. However, the focus on and the timely reinforcement of these tenets: courage, respect, responsibility, communication, honor, perseverance, and innovation helps to set the groundwork for that strength and desire. It encourages effective behaviors and works to create an environment where people begin to make the right choices -- the kind of choices that lead to success.

Women, if they’re driven and strong enough mentally and physically, can do this job. Same goes for men. We can’t lower our standards for political correctness or for potentially new sexual dynamics.

As war becomes less conventional and more dependent upon the more subtle skills of intelligence, surveillance, and surgical strikes, women will fill that space as would any other SEAL—with strength, with honor, and with grace. That is, if they don’t...

We've been slowly getting our SEAL Pup program off the ground. A new approach to teaching leadership and confidence, while developing the practical skills of survival. Survival in the marketplace as well as in or on the Sea - Air - Land (SEAL.) Confidence comes from learning to do things you could not do before. High levels of confidence, (swagger,) comes from learning to...

Many of us spend a bulk of our time on this planet stranded atop the plateaus of life. Despite our busy schedules and exhaustive efforts to accomplish something beyond the ordinary, we make very little progress.

Going to BUD/S wasn’t my first experience in Special Operations training, and I had already learned to spot the posers and those who’d soon quit, and this guy was one of them. I knew I needed to separate myself from him.

We all form and maintain relationships in our lives for a variety of reasons—they make us feel comfortable, complacent, competitive, strong. For Navy SEALs, at the top of the list is the desire to grow and excel. That’s why elite units and high performers tend to stick together. And that’s why the answer to that age-old mom question “If your friends jumped off a cliff, would you?” is...

I dedicated an entire chapter of my book, Raising Men: Lessons Navy SEALs Learned from Their Training and Taught to Their Sons, to this very topic, because it is the person who is committed to the results—rather than the methods—that holds the power in any situation. And to be committed to results takes practice and recognition that you don’t necessarily know everything, even in fields for which you have studied or earned a degree.

To this day, I’ve no doubt that that sniper student still thinks that there was something wrong with his gun and that all of that philosophical talk about body position and mental management was a bunch of B.S.

I was slouched over a stack of pancakes in the BUD/S chow hall, quietly experiencing the thousands of microabrasions that come with 48 hours of being wet and sandy. It was Tuesday night of Hell Week, and it was the first time the pain of it all had really settled in. It was the burning that was getting to me, as if the tiny nerve endings in my skin had started an orchestra to which my internal organs had decided to...

In my last paper, How a T-Shirt Got Me Through Hell Week: Part 1, I discussed how visualization—or what I call “Paradise from the Pain”—can help us get through challenging or difficult times by allowing us to live in the moment that comes after the pain or discomfort.

But how do we do that? How can train our brains to focus on what’s up ahead and not on what we’re experiencing now?

We can train—or trick—our brains to feed off these burst of dopamine when we envision ourselves reaping the rewards of our hard work or training. Don’t like paying your bills? Visualize yourself...

Through the many stories of these men, I’ll be embarking on journey which will take us deep into the personal and professional lives of Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, Green Berets, elite SWAT and rescue teams to extract and share the habits that keep them safe, happy and healthy, and able to live a good life.

I had never intended to become a writer—I didn’t even like it, at first—but by applying the principles I learned in SEAL training I learned to love it. The trick is to open yourself up to life like a sniper student, and then stalk it.

The idea came to me when I was sitting in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It was one of those moments you experience when traveling: the feeling of mystery, intrigue and wonder. I was in awe; architectural feats of high arched ceilings, intricate artwork details and masonry surrounded me. It was hot and sticky outside, yet the inside of the cathedral felt cool, dusty and grey, like a scene from an old spy movie. With all of the nooks, passages and obscure locations, I couldn't help but wonder how many secret messages and clandestine signals had been etched into the history of this inviolable place by Cold War spies. Having personally employed many of these "spy" tactics as a SEAL, the cathedral began to look more like a canvas of opportunity. A bit obvious and grandiose and, yes, even a bit sacred for such seemingly nefarious acts, but inspirational nonetheless.